GamesCom 2013: How Microsoft Won The Show

Microsoft uses GamesCom to take its first real step in the next-gen console war.

While there are no actual 'winners' or 'losers' really - both consoles will go on to find huge and successful fan bases - it seems to me Microsoft has come out of GamesCom in a far greater, and stronger, position than what it had before it went into it.

Bundling FIFA 14 with every Xbox One in Europe was a stroke of genius - even if it'll be available on the current-generation before then - and the console's showcase of games are all more impressive than they were at E3 (as you may expect). Forza remains the jewel in the launch window's crown, Titanfall, although out next year, is positioning itself to be a critical and commerical darling, whereas Dead Rising 3 (frame rate aside), and even Kinect Sports: Rivals are all making very good cases as to why Microsoft's new machine is a worthy investment. Even those not at blockbuster level are still solid, and, seemingly, improving as the days count down to release. Could the Xbox One use a couple more triple-A titles for day one? Most definitely, but the seeds are slowly being planted as to what the future holds.

It's not that Sony had a bad show, either. Its conference, while slow, underlined its dedication to the indie scene, and it remains the cheaper of the two. The games, however, still don't carry any weight of excitement with me. Killzone: Shadow Fall and Infamous are more of the same (no bad thing if the franchises have won you over), DriveClub hasn't found its feet yet, and Knack... well... screw Knack*.

Obviously if the back and forth dance Microsoft has been doing since the Xbox One's announcement has left you baffled or cold to the console, I doubt there's anything that happened over the last week that altered such a stance, and why should it? For those on the fence, though, or those who were happy to wait and see where the company would finally lay its foundations, the Xbox One is a much more attractive package than it was a few months ago (even if I still stand by my opinion that its original form would've benefited us a lot more).

There's more to the 360's successor now, too, most notably its ability to be used as a development tool for would-be and current designers. While the past is enough to make you question how Microsoft will see this through (it would not surprise me if some people never discovered the Indie Store on 360), and there is a registration process to get accepted into the ID@Xbox programme, it's a far cry from E3 where the message to many was 'Sony cares about the independent scene. Microsoft doesn't'.

Even the addition of Kinect doesn't seem as heinous as it did to some back in May. Games like Kinect Sports: Rivals prove that the new sensor is a class apart from what came before it. The idea of motion control may still be an iffy one, but if you're going to do it, I don't think it's been done better than what was being showcased at GamesCom 2013.

The battle lines will continue to be drawn well into November, and ultimately there is no right or wrong choice. Most people's guts will have already told them which console to lean towards and why. In terms of public perception, however, Microsoft has spent the last 5 days doing a great job in winning a lot of people back.

*This is a joke. While I'm sure Knack is a very good game, it's not for me.

User Comments

I will eventually own both for the exclusives. If this generation lasts another 7 years, the dosh I spend will be worth it in the long run. Anything that is on PC I will get that version because PC still wins.

But right now I'm getting an Xbox One at launch. Really simple reason: Dead Rising 3. For me having it as a day one exclusive beats anything PS4 has for day one.

If you like what PS4 is offering better, more power to you. You are probably going to love that console as much as I will when I get one next year sometime (or whenever Uncharted 4 is announced).

Like Microsoft said at E3, Xbox 1 is for the Living Room. After doing what they want me to do with it, I may see RROD again. Im sorry call me a PS fanboy all yall want but I tried the PS3 before my Xbox and I didnt like it. Have the 360 right now and quite enjoy it with minecraft and all. But Xbox is going way to far on their Policies and such, then reversing them. Sony has no ***** with them right now and if so, not as major as xbox...

AAHAHAHAHHA ....It's hilarious how all of you PS4 Fanboys spam the comment section on EVERY article about the XB1. Everyone is laughing at you, not with you. Buy your ps4, it's going to be a great system. Same to be said about the XB1. Enjoy your games and quit crying like little bitches. Your opinion means nothing, sorry.

Never been an Xbox guy myself, always had my Playstation. I am however, a real geek for clever technology and watching a tech demo of the Kinnect 2.0 at GamesCon the other day actually blew me away! I won't be buying an Xbox One since most of my friends are on PS but I can appreciate the amount of effort put into the Kinnect. From what I saw, it is a really clever bit of kit that could come out with some interesting games/uses. The amount of info and details it picks up on is astounding!

Perhaps the lack of good games for the original Kinnect lies with the fact that it didn't sell a massive amount, an so devs didn't see the point of utilizing it or making games for a bit of hardware with a small install base.

Yeah, i'm no fan of football games, but when I was back in secondary school, when a new Fifa was coming out, you knew it since every guy interested in football would talk about it. It's popular, which is why they're trying to compete with CoD in terms of sales now.

As time goes on though, where more developers are comfortable with using the Kinect and more responsive tech in it, we should see better games for the camera coming out. With technology, especially consoles, initial software for it is usually not the best you're going to see from it. Look at the current gen, Genji: Days of the Blade which released at the start of the PS3's life is terrible compared to the Last of Us, made at the end of the PS3's life. I'm not saying the XboxO will have amazing Kinect games for sure, but after seeing the creative integration of it in Project Spark and hearing the reports of the new Kinect's capabilities vastly greater than the first, I think we should all just keep an open mind about the possibilities of it.

Well I've seen enough of the 360's kinect games to know there mediocre games, even if I had an xbox one I doubt I'd buy anything for the Kinect. I agree with you about Fifa still not my cup of tea, have never really been interested in football games.

@CCastiel
In a business sense, FIFA is the way to go to sell the console to the general public in Europe, since football and FIFA are what a lot of gamers play and are interested in.

And saying the XboxO's Kinect games are going to be mediocre, isn't a fair assessment for a software we have yet to see a great deal of. As Miller said in a Podcast, it's responsive and much improved, but it's just whether it will be used well, though Kinect Sports: Rivals from his view is using alot of new features and better abled.

@WildManBlues
Funny, that article mentions one aspect of the conferences, and then just compliments Sony. If it analysed other conferences, specifically MS, i'd be more willing to see that analysis as equitable.

Skype video chat:
I can use my iPad, my iPhone, my TV, my PC etc. for that already. I don't need another device. And I don't have to pay anything to use it on those devices.
Voice controlled menu:
Meh. Will be cool when we get actual AI, but just saying commands out loud when I can just as easily press a button, is not something I want to do.
Detect who has the controller in the room:
So can the PS Eye, and it's still cheaper. But 100 dollars for that? Nah.
Scan you into a game:
Neat, but not worth the price.
Cloud gaming:
The internet is not fast enough for cloud gaming to work properly.
Better exclusives:
Depends on taste. Personally, versus the PS4, yes. But two games don't justify the price. And Nintendo has better exclusives than the Xbox.
Every console is a dev kit:
Does it give full access, or limited? And is there any quality control for what is being published? Giving this to anyone isn't necessarily a good thing...
Versatile OS:
Any OS can change, it's not limited to Windows. And running 3 OS's won't help on game performance...
Better controller:
Depends on personal taste. The PS4 controller is supposed to be the best thing ever, and the Wii U pro controller is way better than the 360 controller. But if that is true, I'll get one for my PC.

Bundling FIFA was genius, though.

Spending money on features the console doesn't need, doesn't warrant more money...

Still not really convinced that the new Xbox is worth over £400, Microsoft haven't really shown me anything that's blown me away. All the games I've seen like dead rising 3 and Rome QTE look good but nothing really new or mind-blowing (Titanfall looks amazing but you could buy it for the P.C or the 360), I suppose the same can be said for the PS4 in some regards.

I don't really see how they "won the show" if you consider giving away Fifa for free some fantastic move maybe for some people, I think Microsoft and their ridiculous policies regarding the Xbox one have left a bitter taste in my mouth . I know you're just making a joke about Knack however I'd rather play that than the multiple mediocre Kinect games we'll get on the xbox one.

I cant wait and i have also pre ordered my Ps4. Im a self confessed xbox 360 man but to be honest ive had enough off halo and gears....... Ps are offering the much better exclusive titles for me... just look at The last of us. If thats a sign of things to come then good bye xbox it was fun while it lasted and to be honest xbox know they have made a mess of this launch and think throwing stupid amounts of money at ea and other companys to gain "timed exclusives"will bring us back then think again, microsoft think again! Kinect does look like fun but so was the last one but only when it involved a drink and some friends. Im new hear and this is just my view so take it easy on me haha

Firstly let's just mention that this is Kinect completely re-designed. It's gone from supporting 2 players to up to 6 players. Who is to say there won't be a killer game that you really want to play with Kinect on it? Do you really want to be forking out £80 PLUS the cost of the game when it gets released?

The Kinect does the following things without even being used in a Kinect-special game:
1) Skype video chat (can be done WHILE gaming)
2) Voice controlled menu, turn on/off etc (it turns on your TV at the same time, which is pretty neat)
3) Detect who has the controller in the room
4) Scan you into a game (The Sims, anyone?)

Now when you add this to what else the Xbox One has to offer:
1) Dedicated cloud gaming services that Sony have NOT invested in - less lag in multiplayer, less possibility of cheating and cloud based resource offloading.
2) Arguably more and better exclusives.
3) Every console is a dev kit.
4) What I would say is a more versatile OS that can change, since they're based on Windows.
5) A much better controller with more re-designed features.

If you genuinely have absolutely no use for any of the features that I mention above then fine, get a Playstation 4. It's just a box that plays next gen games. But I don't think it's fair to call Microsoft out on pricing when they've clearly put much more into the system than Sony, and therefore should expect a bit more return on their investment.

Are people forgetting that the number of Kinects sold to date is roughly a third of the number of 360s sold. However you look at it, not that many people actual bought into Kinect. It may have been the fastest selling product but in terms of actual amounts sold, it isn't that popular.

This is why I won't forgive Microsoft for forcing Kinect on us. It's even worse now that they've come out and said "You don't need to have Kinect plugged in to use your Xbox One". Forcing Kinect on us when less than half of your installed base bought one the first time around is just Microsoft being domineering.

How many times have they shown us live footage of somebody using Kinect motion controls in-game? The old Kinect had ONE decent-ish game - Dance Central. I've played ALL the others and they were ALL terrible.Erm... once? Doesn't that seem a bit strange to you?

They've changed their story so many times and now we are expected to just pretend like nothing ever happened? Are we forgetting that this is the Microsoft who wanted to force us to be online to use their machine and force us to have Kinect plugged in all the time?

Sorry, but how Microsoft can 'win' anything, after what's happened over the last few months, is well and truly beyond me.

I'm sure people will just look at my post and think "Wow he's just a bitter old man" Well why shouldn't I be?